attitude era aside,,it was still carni/kayfabe times,,where staying character was still looked upon,little kids then eating the wwf ice cream/memrobilia was still hawked ..

yeah, kayfabe was the pinnacle ... many/most fans (I hope) who were older than a child already knew (or strongly suspected) that wrestling was predetermined, but the whole suspension of disbelief thing probably took an irreversible hit when Vince McMahon himself admitted same in court in 1989.

Attitude era and the WCW invasion was pretty interesting as a kid. Couldve been better but it was exciting to see these other guys come in during matches etc. If Goldberg had arrived at that point, it could've been great.

I probably would've continued watching wrestling into the '90s but I moved away from home and didn't have a television for a couple of years and then never got back into it. At least I witnessed some of rasslin's glory days and legends on TV and live at Maple Leaf Gardens. Later, I still was curious enough about the biz to read the great books by Mick Foley and Bret Hart.